Margin-stop mechanism for typewriters



Aug. 3 1926. 1,594,379 J. A. RAMUs MARGIN STOP MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERSFiled 2 sheets-sheet 1` Aug. 3,1926. 1,594,379

J. A. RAMUS MARGIN STOP MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed oct. 17. 1925 2Sheets-sheet l2 TAKES A. RAMUB, OF EHINET?" mrnnnso'ra.

Application led october It, serial no. 63,016.

This invention relates to typewriters and especially to mar in stopmechanisms therefor, capable of eing employed on many standard makes oftypewriters now commercially sold.

vlit is the main object of the invention to provide simple but highlyeicient margin stop mechanism co-operating with several parte of astandard typewriter to permit the ,margin stop on the typewriter to beautomatically set by the manipulation of a single release lever and themovement ofthe sliding carriage. l Another object of the invention is topro- 1 vide' margin stop mechanism operatively connected with thecarriage release lever on certain types of standard typewriters adaptedto cause the margin stop to releasably interloclr with the center stopof the typewriter, whereby the movement of the sliding carriage willcause the margin stop to be set as desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device operativefrom the Wcarriage of the typewriter by means of a control lever,employing a margin stop with a latch carried thereby, adapted tointerlock with the center stop of the typewriter and to also release themargin stop from the mari t@ gin stop rod, and an operating leverpivoted.

lon the escapement frame and adapted to en- A gage said latch, wherebythe carriage may e moved to set the margin stop as desired. These andother objects will be apparent from the following description made inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters referto similar parts throughout the several views, and in which. Fig. 1 is aplan view of the carriage and d@ adjacent parts of va standard form oftypewriter, with the improved margin stop mechanism thereon;

' Fig. 2 is a cross section on a'larger scale taken on the line 2-2 ofFigli lig. 3 is a cross sectional view showing th'elatch member on themargin stop in inter-engagement with thecenter post;

Fig. a is a fragmentary plan view showing a control lever and a portionof one of t@ the margin stops;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofthe control lever;

, Fig. ti is a side elevation on an enlarged scale ofthe operating dogcarried by the top of the control lever; and

Figs. Z and 8, respectively, are a plan and side elevation of thepreferred form of margin stop employed.

While the invention is applicable to several types of standar-dtypewriters, such as @G the L. C. Smith, the Woodstock, the RemingtonMonarch and the lDemountable, the preferred embodiment thereof is hereinillustrated as being applied to the standard type of typewritermanufactured by the Royal Typewriter Company;

in the drawings, the carriage is illustrated as supported by means ofthe usual bottom rail 10, (indicated in Fig'. 1 in the dotted lines) andby means of the carriage roll ia guide rod 11 engaged on opposite sidesby means of the carriage rolls12 pivotally mounted to the upper end ofthe escapement frame 13. The carriage ends 14 have secured therebetween,in the usual manner, i5'

'the platen or printing cylinder 15 controlled by the cylinder knobs15a, as well as the carriage roll guide rod 11 and the margin stop rod16 spaced parallel and slightly to the rearward side 4of rod 11. Theusual tek rack rail 17, having outwardly extending arms 17 at each endthereof, is normally heldin engagement with the escapement pinion 18 bymeans of coiled springsA 19 interposed between the outer endsof arms 17ae5 and the margin stop rod disposed thereabove. Rack rail 17 fulcrums onpivot screws 17b secured to. the carriagevends 14. and may be elevatedto release the carriage by means of the carriage or rack release 00levers 20 extending forwardly at either end of the carriage. Theescapement vframe 13 carries the usualtabulator-rack-lift-leverfulcrum-screw 21. The usual center stop 22 onthe type of typewriter illustrated is secured' to the :nain typewriterframe provided with the line lock lever 223 normally spaced therefrom.In the Royal typewriter the line lock lever 22 is preferably bentoutwardly somewhat before installing the improved margin stop mechanismin order that the spaced relation between said lever and the center stop,22 may be .present when the carriage is in extreme left position. Aswill be later shown in the operation of the preferred form of theinvention, this slot or recess is necessary.

All of Athe parts hithertoI described are standard parts of the Royaltypewriter and the cooperation of several of these parts, with the addedelements of the margin stop mechanism, make possible the successfuldevice hereinafter described.

In the embodiment of the invention designed for the Royal typewriter, asillustrated, as well as in most types of standard typewriters, right andlcft margin stops are rmployed identically constructed and having thebody portion 23 of U-shaped cross section slidable on margin stop rod16, carrying at one side thereof the -vadjustable abutment screw 23aadapted to engage center stop 22 to limit the movement of the carriagein one direction. It will be noticed (see Fig. 1) that when said marginand center stop are mutually engaged, the engaged surface of center stop22 is disposed substantially centrally ot' the margin stop. Due,however, to the particular control mechanism for practically all typesof standard typewriters when the carriage has been moved to the cxtremeright and released there is a small amountof play between center stop 22and the abutment screw 23a of the left-hand margin stop. To take up thisplay and mutually engage said stop elements, the carriage must be heldto its extreme right position. Applicant provides his margm stops withvertically swinging margin stop levers 24 eX- tending longitudinally ofbody members 23, and fulcrumed adjacent the inner ends thereof. Levers24 are provided at their outer ends with the pivoted retaining pawls 25,adapted to engage teeth 16 on the margin stop rod 16, whereby the marginstop may be set in a desired position on said rod or released therefromfor setting. Each margin stop is provided with a transversely disposedvertically swinging latch 26 having depending arms disposed at eitherside of body member 23 and pivoted adjacent one side of said bodymember. The intermediate or body portion of latch 26 is disposed beneathmargin stop lever 24 and is adapted to lift said lever when said latchis swung. Simultaneously with this action, when the carriage is held ineither extreme right or left position, the rearwardly disposed dependingarm of latch 26 will be projected between center stop 22 and line locklever 22, interlocking the margin stop with the center stop 22. Thus,when the stop members are mutually engaged, the latch 26 will be alignedto interlock said members and release the margin stop from the marginstop rod 16.

To actuate the said latch on the Royal typewriter, a substantiallyV-sha-ped operating lever 27 is provided preferably fulcrumed at thevertex of the V on the tabulator-rack-lit-lever-fulcrum-screw 21disposed Y on the escapement frame 13. The lowerV or forward end ofoperating lever 27 is extended forwardly and has a small roller 27*carried at its outer end, adapted to normally contact the upper surfaceof the rack rail 17. The rear or working arm of lever 27 is extendedupwardly and substantially at'right angles at its outer end, best shownin Fig. 4, terminating in the upstanding earl 27b to which a verticallyswingable operating dog 28 is pivoted, spring-pressednormally intoelevated position. Operating lever 27 is resiliently held in contactwith rack rail 17 by means of the coiled s ring 29 disposed about saidtabulator-raclr-lift-lever-fulcrumscrew 21. The working arm of lever 27is formed, as described and illustrated, in or- -der that the operatingdog 28, carried at the upper end thereof, may be aligned with theforward depending arm of one of the latches 26 on the margin stops whenthe center stop 22 and one of the abutment screws 23a on the marginstops are mutually engaged by holding the carriage' in extreme left orright positions.

Operation.

When it is desired to set the left margin stop, the typewriter carriageis flirst moved to its extreme right position, the normal play betweencenter stop 22 and left margin stop being taken up to mutually engagesaid stop elements in the manner previously described. The latch 26 willthen be aligned with the operating dog 28 on lever 27, and, at itsrearward end, with the slot between' center stop 22 and line lock lever22a. The rack or carriage release lever 20 is then depressed, therebyelevating rack rail 17 and, in turn, swinging lever 27 backwardly.lOperating lever 27 as has been previously described, is actuated by therack release lever and, obviously, actuates the forward arm of latch 26,swinging said latch to simultaneously release the margin stop lever 24and to relcasably inter-lock the left margin stop with center stop 22.The left margin stop is now free to move with reference to margin stoprod 16 and is also rigidly inter-locked with the center stop 22. Thecarriage may then be moved to any desired point in line of writing,obviously moving margin stop rod 16 relatively tosaid left margin stopand, when the rack or carriage release lever 20 is released, theoperating lever 27 and latch 26 will again take their normal positionsand the left margin stop will be automatically set atthe point desired.

ln setting the right margin stop, carriage release lever 20 must iirstbe depressed to permit movement of the carriage to the left. Thecarriage is then moved to extreme left position, at .which time theabutment screw 23 on the right margin stop will' engage the line locklever 22Ll of center stop Since standard typewriter` carriages arenormally impelled to the left, there will be no play between the stopelements when the carriage is in the above stated position, and thelatch 26 on the right hand margin stop will be aligned with operatinglever 27 and with the slot between center stop 22 and line lock lever22a. However, inasmuch as it was necessary to depress the carriagerelease lever 20, in order to move the carriage to the extreme left, theoperating dog 28 was moved rearwardly before the carriage was moved,sliding behind the forward depending arm of latch 26, as the carriagereached its eX- treme left position. To return operating dog 28 tonormal position for operating latch 26, it is only necessary to releasecarriage release lever 20, which permits lever 27 'to swing forwardly, ycammihg the spring- 'pressed dog 28 to the forward side of latch 26.Vhen the carriage or rack release lever 20 is again depressed, operatingdog 28 will again engage the latch 26, freeing the right margin stopfrom margin stop rod 16 and simultaneously interlocing the right marginstop with center stop 22. The carriage may be then moved to a desiredosition in line of writing and the rack re ease lever released to setthe margin stop automatically as desired. i

Vhile the embodiment of the invention illustrated is especially designedfor a Royal typewriter, it will be readily seen that by slight changesin the form and details, the invention may be applied to other types ofmachines such as the L. C. Smith, Woodstock, Demountable, and RemingtonMonarch. All of these machines employ right and left margin stopssettable on horizontally extending margin stop rods and a center stop orcenter stops cooperating therewith to limit the movement of thecarriage. Several of these machines, however, mount their margin stoprod on the typewriter frame and their center stop on the carriage. Allstandard types employ a carriage release lever of some kind. It will beseen that devices within the scope of the invention may easily be4designed -for all standard types of typewriters and will employ thelatch and inter-locking mechanism disclosed and operatively connectedtothe carriage release lever or an independent operating lever to setthe left or right-hand y margin stop when the carriage has been moved toeither extreme left or right positions. The operation of the deviceIapplied to other standard types of machineswill be identical with theoperation above described.

From the foregoing description, 'it will be apparent that the applicanthas invented an extremely simple but highly ellicient margin stopmechanism adapted to automatically set right or left margin stops by themanipulation of a single operating lever in cooperation with themovement of the typewriter carriage.

It will, of course, be understood that varions changes may be made inthe form, details, proportions, arrangement of parts and application ofthe same without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a typewriter having a movable carriage, a stop element supportedon said carriage, a second stop element supported independently of saidcarriage in position to engage said first mentioned stop element, one ofsaid stop elements being adjustable on its support, laterallyprojectable means on one of said stop elements adapted to releasably fixsaid stop elements together whereby the position of said variable stopelement may be changed and set by the movement of said carriage.

2. ln a typewriter having a movable carriage, a stop element supportedon said carriage, a second stop element supported independently of saidcarriage in position to engage said first ymentioned element, one

of said stop elements being adapted to be set at various positions onits support, means for releasing said variable stop element from itssupport. means for releasably interlocking said stop elements, wherebythe i 4position of said variable stop element may be changed by themovement of said carriage and means for resetting saidvariable stopelement in any position on its support.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, and an operating lever adapted tocontrol said several means.

4. In a typewriter having a movable carriage, a stop element supportedon said carriage, a s econd stop ele-ment supported independently ofsaid carriage in position to engage said first mentioned element, one ofsaid stop elements being adapted. to be set at various positions on itssupport, a latch on said variable stop element capable of in- Iterlocking with said other stop element when said elements are mutuallyengaged, and means for operating said latch whereby the position of saidvariable stop element may be changed and set by the movement of saidcarriage.

5. The structure set forth in claim 4, releasable means for locking said'variable stop member in a plurality of positions on its support, -saidlatch being operative to also releasey said means.

6. In a typewriter having a movable carriage, a stop element supportedon said carriage, a second sto element support/ed independently of saicarriage in positionfto engage said first mentioned stop element, one ofsaid stop elements being adjustable* on its support, laterallyvprojectable means on one of said stop elements adapted to releasably fixsaid elements together, and means for simultaneously releasing sa1dadjustable stop element from its support whereby said adjustableistopAelement may be adjusted and set by the movement of said carriage. v

7. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, a'marginstop rod and a center stop, of a margin stop mechanism` .comprising amargin stop adapted to engage said center stop to limitthe movement ofsaid carriage in one direction, and capable of being moved and set atvarious positions on said margin stoprod, means for releasablyinterlocking said margin stop with said centerv stop when said membersare mutually engaged, and means for releasing said margin stop formovement on said margin stop rod whereby said margin stop may be movedand set as desired by the movement of said carriage.

8. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, a marginstop rod and a center stop, of margin stop mechanism comprising a marginstop adapted to engage said center stop to limit the movement of saidcarriage in one direction, a releasable retaining means carried by saidmarginstop, and a latch also carried by said margin stop adapted toaetuate said retainin means and to releasably-interlock said margin stopwith said center stop when said members are mutually engaged, wherebysaid margin stop may be moved and set as desired on said margin stop rodby the movement of said carriage.

9. The structure set orth in claim 8 and an operating lever controllablefrom an aecessible point on said typewriter adapted to actuate saidlatch when said margin sto and said center stop are mutually engage 10.In a typewriter, the combinationwith a sliding carriage, a margin stoprod, and a rack rail, of margin stop mechanism comprising a settablemargin stop slidably mounted on said margin stop rod adapted to engagesaid'eent-er stop, means on said margin stop for releasably interlockingwith said center stop when said stop members are mutually engaged, andmeans connected to said rack rail for operating said interlocking means,whereby, when said rack rail is raised. said 'margin stop may be set ata desired position on said margin stop rod by the movement of saidcarriage.

11. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, a marginstop rod, a center stop, a rack rail. and an escapement frame, of marginstop mechanism comprising a margin stop mounted on said margin stop rod,a latch carried by said margin stop adapted to releasably interlock withsaid center stop, a lever pivoted to said escapement frame having an armadapted said carriage in position to engage said first mentionedelement, one of said stop elements being adapted to be set at variouspositions on its support, means for releasably interlocking said stopelements when the same are mutually engaged and operating meansconnected to said carriage re'ease lever, whereby the position of saidvariable stop element may be changed and set automatically by themanipulation of the carriagev release lever and the lnovement of saidcarriage.

13. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, a carriagerelease lever, a margin stop rod, and a center stop, of margin stepmechanism, comprising a settable stop, slidably mounted onsaid marginstop rod, means on said margin stop for releasably inter-locking withsaid center stop when said stop members are mutually engaged, and meansconnected to said carriage release lever for operating saidinter-locking means, whereby, when said carriage release lever ismanipulated, said margin stop may be set at a desired position on saidmargin stop rod by the subsequent movement ot' said carriage.

14. A margin stop mechanism for a ty ewriter, having in combination asetta le margin stop 'adapted to be mounted on the margin stop rod ofl atypewriter, means on said margin stop for releasably interlocking withthe center stop of said typewriter, and means for controlling said firstmentioned means from an accessibe point on a typewriter, whereby saidmargin stop maybe set at various positions on said margin stop rod bythe movement of said carriage.

15. In a typewriter having a movable carriage, an adjustable stopelement releas- Y and limit the movement thereof, said carriage releaselever being operative to simultaneously release said carriage and saidmargin stop from its support whereby said margin stop may be engaged bysaid carriage and automatically shifted by the movement of saidcarriage.

17. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, a carriagerelease lever, a margin stop rod and a center stop, of mai'- giii stopmechanism comprising an adjustable stop slidably mounted on said marginstop rod, a laterally projectable member on said adjustable margin stopadapted to releasably interlock with said center stop when said stopmembers are mutually engaged, and means for o erating said member andreleasing said ad]ustab1e margin stop from justable margin stop may beset at a desired position by the subsequent movement of said carriage.-

18. In a typewriter, the combination with a sliding carriage, anescapement pinion for controlling the movement thereof, and a centerstop, of margin stop mechanism comprising an adjustable margin stop,means for simultaneously disengaging said carriage from said escapementpinion and interlocking said margin stop with said center lstop wherebywhen said carriage isv moved said margin stop may be adjusted and set ata desired position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa ture.

JAMES A. RAMUS.

